As you probably know, our teachers continue to undergo an arduous and lengthy negotiation process with the city. Our impression as the PTO is that teachers are feeling increasingly disrespected and undervalued. If this continues, we worry that we will start to lose staff, especially younger talent that hasn’t been with NPS long. LE was cited as a school that lost a significant amount of staff last year in comparison to previous years and we would hate to see that trend continue.
North Andover just had a teacher walkout/strike that ended with 15.5% salary increase over 4 years (so ~4$ a year). Newton is asking a fraction of that. We will contact our School Committee rep to see why they don’t seem more supportive of the NTA (Rajeev Parlikar – parlikarr@newton.k12.ma.gov).
There are several ways you can support our teachers.
- Standing with teachers on Wednesdays. They are out there every Wednesday from 7:45-8:10. It would mean a lot to to teachers if parents stand with them, even for a few minutes, and ask how they are doing.
- Sign up for the Newton Parent Educator Collaborative to find updated information and actionable items Here
- Request a lawn sign Here
- Sign up to deliver a public comment at a future school committee meeting, stating why you think the educators of Newton deserve a fair contract Here
- Email or call the School Committee and demand that they stop playing the public relations game and focus on actually negotiating a fair contract Here
- Email or call the mayor and demand that she make additional funds available for the settlement of a fair contract Here
- Email or call your city council members and encourage them to do everything in their power to direct more money to NPS Here (Calling elected officials is more effective than we often realize. It takes fewer calls than we often imagine for them to feel pressure).
If you email teachers or even try to grab them after school quickly, that is their work email and their workplace. So teachers may not feel like they can freely talk or respond. However, we know they are appreciating any messages sent.